Means for making bell-ended pipes by centrifugal casting



Jan. 30, 1951 J. BOUCHER 2,539,883

MEANS FOR MAKING BELL-ENDED PIPES BY CENTRIFUGAL CASTING Original Filed Feb. 28, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR c/ACQl/[S BOUCHER BY'MMC 11/8 ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1951 J. BOUCHER 2,539,888

MEANS FOR MAKING BELL-ENDED PIPES BY CENTRIFUGAL CASTING Original Filed Feb. 28, 1946 s sheets-sheet z INVENTOR mcqmss BOUCl/fk BY gm HAS ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1951 2,539,888

J. BOUCHER MEANS FOR MAKING BELL-ENDED PIPES BY CENTRIFUGAL CASTING Original Filed Feb. 28, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR JACQU8 fiOKICf/f/Q BY W 770% l HIS ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 30, 1951 ME NS'FQRMAKIN L-END D PIRES BY. GENTBIFUGAL GASIING- Jacques Bou'cher, Par-is, France; assignorto' Com- .pag-nie de Pont-a-Mousscm-Naney ('M'.& M.), Franceeaa French company Qri inal ppn atio February 28, 1946, Serial No. $650,914, .Diyided and this applicationluly.16, 1-947, Serial'No57613216. "In, France. Dec mber Sec i n rihi e ii .0, A gust 9 d Patent expires. December;23, .1963.

I ('llaim. 1.

This invention relates to a centriiu al cast ng. apparatus, and is a division of my copendinga'p plication, Ser. No. *6f50;9l4, filed February 28, 1946, which has been abandoned.

The manufacture of bell-ended pipes by centrifugal casting is in current use. the flared end of the pipe is obtained by means of 1a ccreplaced. atthe end of the mouldbefore casting h p p By reasomofthe contraction ofthe metal in the course-ofits solidification, recourse hasgenera llybeenhad to cores made from arefractory material such asthe usual foundry sand. The labor and materials neces, sary for making such cores, and thetime occupied in putting themin, position,.obviouslyafiect the cost of the moulded pipes. 1The .method..of manufacturing according to the present invention enables the rate of production to. be increased.

According to the invention, there is made by centrifugal casting a pipeof which the'external surface of one of its ends is 'directly givenin'a known manner the final'bell-like shape, "while internally the pipe is'mad cylindrical=throuhout, its length; the mouldcompr-ising at this-end a detaohable dam applied-against the m0u1d "fthe inner diameter of said .dam'being equal-"to the inner diameter of the pipe.;to;be cast, and the bell-end of said pipe being interna1iy.-:.hcl lowed out, and screwthreaded, if re qliiitesi 0375251113- sequent machining.

'This ,method of manufactur enablesgthe. cores usuallyremployed for; forming the-inner; hollow of the. pipe bell-end tobe'completely elim= inated. The dam for closing themouldiis. preferably made of metal, and thereforeits wear. is

The shape of a. detachable-mould damhccordingto the int-en,

Fist 2 isairont View showinga supportlfnr-a. detachable. mould. dam according .to another elmbodimentoi the invention;

Fi 3 is a. longitudinal view. half in. elevation and; half, in section, .showing a detachable mould; dammounted in.theisupportoffligzz .Eig. Lisa. plan view showin selfracting means; for .rem ing the, detachable mould, dam accordns v othe invention,

Iteierring tqFigurel, l denotes castapipe while. .2 (cross hatched. parts. of, the .drawing; denotes, the internal; hollowof .the pipe; bHrBQd}, as. it usually, appearsfromthe castingoperation According lto-v the invention, the-pipe, is. cast. with; its internal vsurface.made cylindrical, throughout-, itslength along the generatingdined,the hollow: Zfbeing machined. subsequently. In, order: to. shape the-ripeend, there isengaged in a se 4,.provi'ded at, the end, of thechillmould, fl a dam. 6, which is kept pressed against the, mould lend; by means of a number of heel'keys 1-, the bodies; of which engage in openings. 8 providedina mould collar 9, while their heelspress against theidarni 6. Such av fastening arrangement assures ful1.= safety, since the centrifugal force due;v to the no:- tation, of the mould, tends .to tighten theagriploi the saidjkeys. The innersurface of the .pipe 4; is determined by the diameterofthecentral-hole; of said. dam, through which overflows a. little excess of molten metal. In order to .release; they: solidified pipe I, the keys! and .thedamt are removed, and .will be put :in again, for the-next;- casting operation.

Referring now to Figure 2, I5 denotes :the; end? of a rotary mould,.and I6 its stationary-support, in which the mould is. adapted to rotate; while; I! denotes the movable dam intended to; be. pressed against the mouldiend l5, this dambeingz, mounted to rotatein an annular casing;:20 supe portedby two .trunnionsor journals -2l,, 22*inra bracket orsupport 23-.adapted to oscillate abouta a pivot 24 mounted on th mould-supporting;- member [6. The supportZS is provided with-ran.- operating. hand1e25, and-is held immovabledm its closed position by any suitablealockingimeansaassesses 3 When the apparatus is closed, that is to say, the dam I! being applied against the mould end l5, and the locking means 26 bein in closed position, the casting operation is effected While the mould is in rotation. As the dam ll can rotate in its annular casing 20, it is constrained to rotate together with the mould against which it is applied. The two journals 2| and 22 of the casing 29 per- 'mit the latter to adjust itself and the dam to bear against the mould face I5. When the pipe is sufiiciently solidified, the latch 26 is unlocked and the support 23 opened by tilting it about its pivot 24. The mould face I is thus released, and the pipe can be extracted, after which the apparatus is closed again so that the next casting operation may be effected in the same way as before.

An example of a movable dam mounted in its casing is shown in Figure 3, wherein the movable dam properly so called is shown at l1. This dam is supported by a piece 32, on to which it is screwed at 3 i, gripping the inner race 33 of a ball bearing, the outer race 34 of which is lodged in the body of the casing 20 and maintained in its position by a cover 31, pressed thereupon by means of screws 38. The casing 20, as already shown in Figure 2, is supported by two trunnions or journals 2| and 22, adapted to rotate in the support 23 through the medium of silent-blocks 4|, maintained by notched nuts 42 screwed on to the threaded ends of the said journals. The composite unit comprising the piece 32 and the dam l7, supported solely by the inner race 33 of the ball bearing, can rotate within the casing 20. In the latter is provided a chamber G3 for receiving a fluid under pressure (water or air) intended for cooling, this chamber being closed by a welded cover 44, and communicating through ducts 45 with ducts 46 formed in the movable piece 32 and opening into a chamber 57, which communicates through bores 48 with evacuation holes 49 Way of example.

disposed between ribs 59 provided on the movable dam l1. Stufimg leather elements Si, 52, 53 and 54 are lodged in grooves. A sheet-metal guard 58'is welded to the end of the casing 20, to prevent the excess of liquid metal which overflows through the dam splashing out during the casting operation.

The operation of this apparatus has already been explained in connection with Figure 2. The silent-blocks readily enable a certain resilient pressure of the dam H to be exerted against the mould E5. The ribs and the fluid-circulationv ducts facilitate the cooling of the dam il in contact with the mould I5.

Finally, in Figure 4 is diagrammatically shown a self-acting device for removing the movable dam from the mould end. In this figure, (H denotes the frame supporting the rotatable mould, while 62 denotes the support for the movable dam 63 mounted as previously described. The support 62, which can swing about a pivot 64 mounted fast on the frame 5|, is maintained in the closing position shown in the drawing by a latch 66, the pivot 6'! of which is likewise fixed; to the frame 6|. This latch is maintained in its locking position by a spring diagrammatically shown at 68. By 65! is denoted a fixed abutment on thegeneral base of the. castingmachine as a whole, since the frame 61 supporting the mould is subjected to a movement of translation parallel to its longitudinal axis.

The operation of this latter apparatus is as follows: Whilst the casting operation is going on in the rotating mould, the latter is displaced along its longitudinal axis. When the mould attains the end of its stroke the pipe-casting operation is terminated, and the rear arm of the latch 65 comes into contact with the abutment 69, which opens the latch and liberates the support 62, which, when the frame BI is stopped, keeps on moving by inertia, and consequently opens by pivoting about the pivot 64. This open- :ing movement of the support 62 is facilitated by the disposition of the pivot 64; indeed, as the latter is parallel to the end surface of the mould, and as the whole mould assembly is slightly in- I clined to the horizontal plane, the pivot 64 itself is slightly inclined with respect to the vertical plane, so that the support 62 and the whole mechanism carried thereby are acted upon by gravity in the opening direction. Otherwise, an opening spring might be added thereto, if it were necessary.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described and shown, which have been set forth merely by Thus, the mould dam under consideration, instead of being of metal, might be made from any suitable refractory material.

Instead of being fastened by means of heel keys as described above, the dam may be fastened by screws or the like. In one modification described above the mould dam is rotatably mounted in its support by means of a single ball bearing with deep grooves, but it is evident that several ball bearings, or even ball-and-socket or swivel bear-- ings, may be used instead.

Cooling by water, air or any other fluid, instead of being effected from within, may be effected from without, for example, by means of external jets.

The support for the ring, mounted on a single articulation, may be provided with a double articulation, for example, of the universal joint' type.

The opening displacement of the support, instead of being effected about a substantially vertical axis, may be effected by making it give way longitudinally with a subsequent lateral, vertical" or combined translation.

Finally, the opening device may be operated manually, electro-magnetically, pneumatically or otherwise, without thereby going outside the scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a centrifugal mould for casting bell-ended pipe of the type wherein the internal diameter of the pipe is constant throughout its length, a dam mechanism for the end bell portion of the mould comprising in comibnation, a removable annular dam and an annular casing member surrounding said dam, said dam being rotatably (References on following page) REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Haynes Dec. 18, 1923 De Lavaud Mar. 18, 1924 Ladd Apr. 1, 1924 Lower et al Jan. 22, 1929 Oubridge Aug. 7., 1934 Number I 0 Number Name Date Bigler Nov. 13, 1934 Williams Dec. 10, 1935 Eurich et al. Feb. 11, 1936 Moormann May 26, 1936 Ledeboer July 14, 1936 Anderson et a1 Feb. 8, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain June 15, 1948 

